Lebanon at the AFC Asian Cup

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Lebanon were unable to qualify past the first round in their three appearances at the AFC Asian Cup. After a 4–0 defeat to Iran in 2000, Abbas Chahrour scored Lebanon's first goal of the tournament against Iraq in a 2–2 draw. In 2019, after losing against Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Lebanon achieved their first Asian Cup win against North Korea (4–1). However, they missed out on the round of 16 as, in the third-place ranking, Vietnam had accumulated less yellow-cards than Lebanon.^[8] The 2023 edition was Lebanon's worst to date, only managing a draw against China and defeats against Tajikistan and hosts Qatar, finishing in last place in their group.^[10]

In 2000, Lebanon hosted the Asian Cup despite concerns by FIFA regarding the stadiums' conditions.^[1] Under coach Josip Skoblar,^[11] Lebanon, captained by Jamal Taha,^[12] were drawn into Group A alongside Iran, Iraq and Thailand; they finished last in the group with only two points; had Lebanon defeated Thailand in the final game, they would have qualified for the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams.^[9]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iran	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Iraq	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
3	Thailand	3	0	2	1	2	4	−2	2
4	Lebanon (H)	3	0	2	1	3	7	−4	2

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On 9 January 2019, Lebanon played their first game against Qatar. In the 37th minute of play, Ali Hamam scored a goal for Lebanon only for it to be disallowed for a dubious foul on a Qatari player.^[13][14] In the second half, two goals by the opposition without reply gave them all three points from the encounter.^[15] Three days later, Lebanon lost to Saudi Arabia 2–0, sentencing Lebanon to their second defeat in the tournament.^[16] In the final group stage game, played on 17 January against North Korea, Lebanon won their first Asian Cup game 4–1 with goals by Felix Michel Melki, Hassan Maatouk and a brace by Hilal El-Helwe. However, this wasn't enough to qualify Lebanon to the knock-out stages, as they lost out to Vietnam in the third-place ranking on the fairplay rule.^[8]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Qatar	3	3	0	0	10	0	+10	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Saudi Arabia	3	2	0	1	6	2	+4	6
3	Lebanon	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
4	North Korea	3	0	0	3	1	14	−13	0

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Lebanon played the opening game of the tournament against hosts Qatar on 12 January 2024, in front of 82,490 spectators at Lusail Stadium.^[17] Lebanon suffered a 3–0 defeat against the host nation.^[17] A subsequent goalless draw with China left Lebanon needing a victory in the final match against Tajikistan to progress.^[18] Bassel Jradi of Lebanon secured an early lead in the second half, but the momentum shifted when Kassem El Zein received a red card in the 52nd minute, reducing Lebanon to 10 players.^[10] Tajikistan scored twice late in the game, eliminating Lebanon from the competition.^[19] Lebanon finished last in their group with only one point.^[10]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Qatar (H)	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Tajikistan	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
3	China	3	0	2	1	0	1	−1	2
4	Lebanon	3	0	1	2	1	5	−4	1

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  Champions    Runners-up    Third place  

AFC Asian Cup record											Qualification record
Year	Host	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pos.	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Ref.
1956 to 1968		Did not enter									Did not enter							—
1972	Thailand	Did not qualify									2nd of 3, semi-final loss	5	2	0	3	6	10	[20]
1976	Iran	Withdrew									Withdrew							[21]
1980	Kuwait	Did not qualify									3rd of 3	2	0	1	1	0	1	[22]
1984	Singapore	Withdrew									Withdrew							[23]
1988	Qatar	Did not enter									Did not enter							—
1992	Japan																	—
1996	United Arab Emirates	Did not qualify									2nd of 3	4	2	1	1	7	6	[24]
2000	Lebanon	Group stage	3	0	2	1	3	7	Squad		Qualified as hosts							[25]
2004	China	Did not qualify									3rd of 4	6	1	1	4	2	8	[26]
2007	Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Vietnam	Withdrew									Withdrew							[27]
2011	Qatar	Did not qualify									Preliminary round win, 4th of 4	8	2	1	5	8	14	[28]
2015	Australia										3rd of 4	6	2	2	2	12	14	[29]
2019	United Arab Emirates	Group stage	3	1	0	2	4	5	Squad		2nd of 5, 1st of 4	14	8	3	3	26	10	[30]
2023	Qatar	Group stage	3	0	1	2	1	5	Squad		2nd of 5	6	3	1	2	11	8
2027	Saudi Arabia	Ongoing									Ongoing
Total		Group stage	9	1	3	5	8	17	—		3/18	51	20	10	21	72	71	—

Lebanon's Asian Cup record
First Match	Lebanon 0–4 Iran  (12 October 2000; Beirut, Lebanon)
Biggest Win	Lebanon 4–1 North Korea  (17 January 2019; Sharjah, United Arab Emirates)
Biggest Defeat	Lebanon 0–4 Iran  (12 October 2000; Beirut, Lebanon)
Best Result	Group stage in 2000, 2019, and 2023
Worst Result

List of AFC Asian Cup matches
Year	Round	Opponent	Score	Result	Record
2000	Group stage	Iran	0–4	Loss	0–0–1
	Group stage	Iraq	2–2	Draw	0–1–1
	Group stage	Thailand	1–1	Draw	0–2–1
2019	Group stage	Qatar	0–2	Loss	0–2–2
	Group stage	Saudi Arabia	0–2	Loss	0–2–3
	Group stage	North Korea	4–1	Win	1–2–3
2023	Group stage	Qatar	0–3	Loss	1–2–4
	Group stage	China	0–0	Draw	1–3–4
	Group stage	Tajikistan	1–2	Loss	1–3–5